Sunday, January 31, 2010

As the Manhunter from Mars sailed ever closer toward Hawkgirl, who was already blasting her ship's mounted fire extinguishers at the apartment building, the Alien Atlas was sent flailing through the air by a mightier wind than even his Martian lungpower could produce. The android Justice Leaguer Red Tornado had caught J'Onn J'Onzz in a swirling cyclone produced by his right arm.

In her ship, Shayera grinned. It was about time the Justice League sent in their only member she could trust not to be an absorbascon liability. As any good police officer knows, even alien ones, you never want to walk into a crime scene without back-up.

The Martian Manhunter, once caught in the cyclone's path, turned immaterial. Collecting himself, the Martian Miracle Man flew toward the Tornado Champion. His massive brow furrowed, J'Onn J'Onzz bellowed, "Usurper. You dared think you could ever take my place within the League, tinkertoy?" With that, the Manhunter from Mars passed his ghostly fingertips through the robot John Smith's brow, and turned solid. Electrical sparks flew and the Red Tornado's artificial form went still with sickening immediacy. As he dropped out of the sky, Hawkgirl maneuvered her spacecraft beneath him, catching Red Tornado without missing a second in the escape to follow.

Streaking back toward the East Coast, Hawkgirl made the call to her husband and partner, Hawkman. "Katar, you and the Atom had best be ready to wing it like a Manhawk out of the Seven Hells. I've got a psychotic Martian on my tail, and we've got to pick up the trail of Captain Comet if any of us are ever going to get out of this mess!